What a day!

Let me tell you about my day. 

Can I tell you about my day?

I’m going to tell you about my day.

Quite simply, it was one of the best days I’ve spent here in Stockholm. 

It was cold and rainy.  But that was okay.  I had an early meeting 9am in Drottningholm (Queen’s Island) at a place called Silviahemmet. (Conveniently located just across the street from the Royal Palace!)

In 1996, Her Majesty the Queen of Sweden founded Silviahemmet, a non-profit foundation focusing on educating professionals and on delivering day-care within the area of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.

All work of Silviahemmet is based on the Palliative Care Approach.  It involves an active, total care of patients whose disease is not treatable.  The Palliative Care Approach includes control of pain, of other symptoms and of psychological, social and spiritual problems.  The goal is to achieve the best quality of life for the ill person as well as his or her close family.

Now, when I read that, I got excited deep in my heart.  Over the summer I read several books by Dr. Ira Byock, a Palliative Care Physician in the U.S. and fell in love with his way of thinking and his recommendations for how to live better in order to die well.  (See my reading list on the right side of my page for the books I read!)

This organization combines holistic care with palliative care, two very excellent care models and gives personal attention to each guest.  That is the kind of care I want to be a part of. 

Learning about Silviahemmet and their use of the Palliative Care Approach really inspired me.  It made me want to go through the trainings they offer for nurses, OT’s and PT’s.  It made me want to use their model in the U.S.  It gave me hope that holistic care is possible and that Palliative care can be active.

Oh my goodness. I could go on for days about how exciting that meeting was, but I’ve still got to process it myself. 

Along with most of this trip.  Today was another day when I couldn’t believe how lucky I am to be here in Sweden.  I stopped by the Royal Palace before meeting a friend from Switzerland for lunch, and despite the rain, it was lovely.  There are some really well trimmed hedges in the gardens on Drottningholm.

I walked around downtown Stockholm after lunch and on my way home I noticed a guy in full UF Oiler’s gear.  I recognized it immediately and hesitantly asked if he went to the University of Findlay.  HE HAD.  Oh my gosh.  Here, 4000 miles from home, I found a person who knew a small town in Ohio just like me.  We talked until our train came and the entire ride to our stops. 

This meeting made both of our days.  It’s funny how small the world can be sometimes!

(Thanks to those of you that have been following along on my adventures – my blog has almost 1000 views, which means that someone has been listening to my ranting about Alzheimer’s.  Thank you for listening, thank you for being interested, and most of all, thank you for your support!)

Hej då från Sverige!